Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
An active protection system for ground vehicles that is a leading candidate for inclusion in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) will resume testing in the third quarter of this year, according to Mark Middione, program manager at United Defense.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is satisfied with the results of its Grand Challenge unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) competition, despite the lack of a winner, according to spokeswoman Jan Walker. None of the 15 UGVs managed to complete the 142-mile course from Barstow, Calif., to Primm, Nev., with the most successful vehicle traveling about seven miles (DAILY, March 16). DARPA had planned to award $1 million to the team that completed the course in the least time, provided it took them less than 10 hours.
Boeing's X-45A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is expected to perform its first inert weapon drop at Edwards, Calif., within a week, according to a Boeing spokesman. The first drop will be unguided, using a dummy Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) deployed from the aircraft's weapons bay, according to Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale. A guided drop is expected to follow by early April.
